1. The Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to containers, and more particularly, but not necessarily entirely, to containers for organizing and carrying tableware that may be particularly useful for picnics or other outdoor activities.
2. Description of Related Art
It is common to transport tableware for use in picnics, camping or other outdoor recreational activities in which meals are served. Several different items of tableware may be useful, such as plates, napkins, cups, bowls, and utensils including knives, forks and spoons. It may be desirable to arrange the tableware in a manner such that the tableware occupies as little space as possible to facilitate storing the tableware in small areas or vehicles, and to facilitate handling the tableware. It may also be desirable to allow the tableware to be accessible while being protected from wind such that the tableware may not be easily blown away during use in the outdoors.
Picnic baskets known in the art are commonly used to carry tableware as well as food items. A drawback of the known picnic baskets is that the items in the picnic baskets are often mixed together such that finding and accessing a particular item may become difficult. Also, organizing tableware items in a compact configuration may be difficult in the traditional picnic basket. Moreover, dispensing of the tableware may not be easily accomplished.
An example of a container known in the art for carrying tableware is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,179, granted May 9, 2000 to Giampapa. The container has a compartment into which various types of tableware may be placed. However, separate compartments are not provided such that mixing of items may occur. Moreover, placement of the items in the container in a compact arrangement may be difficult to accomplish. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,841, granted Nov. 6, 2001 to Hodges, discloses a picnic supply case that is configured to function as a lap tray. Accordingly, the configuration of the case may not be suitable for arranging the tableware in a compact configuration.
Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,559, granted May 21, 1974 to Carter, discloses a container for picnic accessories. However, the container does not have compartments configured for holding specific tableware items such as utensils or cups, for example. Accordingly, the container does not facilitate arranging tableware in a compact and well organized configuration.
The prior art is thus characterized by several disadvantages that are addressed by the present disclosure. The present disclosure minimizes, and in some aspects eliminates, the above-mentioned failures, and other problems, by utilizing the methods and structural features described herein.
The features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the disclosure without undue experimentation. The features and advantages of the disclosure may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.